Somewhere I Belong
by Nyhlus
Summary: It's Prom Night. The day they've been looking forward to for months. But, for Samey and Shawn, it's bittersweet. Samey lost to Amy for Prom Queen. Shawn's missed his last chance with Jasmine. On the staircase of losers, they try to pick up the pieces, and retake their night.


Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to their rightful owners.

Warning: The following chapter contains: coarse language, YOU have been WARNED.

Somewhere I Belong

Samey stepped out of the gymnasium. She ran her hand through her shoulder length blonde hair. A light breeze passed through her powder blue dress. The outside was dimly lit. A single light illuminated the steps down to the parking lot. She took a couple of steps down the stairs and stopped. She crouched down, turning herself into a little ball. She began to rub her eyes, trying to fight back the tears.

Amy had done it. She had won. Again. It had been Samey's last chance. The last chance of her entire High School career to beat Amy and she failed.

Amy was Prom Queen. And Samey was just a nobody. Amy did not even want it. At least, that's what she had said. Maybe it was just false hope, but Samey really thought she had a chance. This was something she could do. She even made her own dress. She'd talked to people. This was supposed to be her moment. But no. Amy had to win. Again. Just like she always did. A shiver went down Samey's spine. Why was the world so cruel to her? She worked so hard, and never got anything. It was one of those moments when Samey really knew just how miserable and alone she was.

"Hey."

Samey nearly jumped. She turned to look and saw another figure sitting on the steps. He was about three steps down from her, off to the left. She had not even noticed he was there. He raised his head up a little bit and looked over at her. That's when she recognized who it was. "Oh, hi Shawn." She almost didn't recognize him without his signature ratty green toque. His long brown hair flowed down in front of his face. He wore a black pinstripe suit.

"Welcome."

"Welcome?"

Shawn extended his arms. "To the staircase of losers."

Samey took a deep breath and looked down on the ground. "Finally. Somewhere I belong."

"I'm guessing Amy won Prom Queen?" Shawn asked. All Samey could do was nod her head. "Huh, well if it makes you feel any better I didn't vote for her."

"A little bit." Samey whispered. She looked back up at Shawn. "What are doing being out here anyway?"

"Feeling sad for myself. The same as you." Shawn said as he rustled his hair with his hands.

"And why is this the Staircase of Losers?" Samey asked.

"Because I'm a giant fucking loser."

"You're not a loser Shawn."

Shawn tilted his head as he looked back over at her. "I watch two Romero films every weekend then look over and revise my 36 step evacuation plan for getting out of the city when the zombie apocalypse happens."

"Okay you're right, you're a total loser." Samey agreed immediately. "But I don't see how that got you sitting out here on these steps."

"I walked with Jasmine to the car that was picking her up. She had to leave early because of her parents or something." Shawn explained

"And?"

"And that's it! I didn't do anything!" He cried out in frustration, before holding his head in his hands. "I'm such an idiot."

"You didn't do anything?" Samey repeated in confusion.

"This was my chance. My last fucking chance to say something to her. And I blew it because I'm a hopeless coward. I'd die immediately in an outbreak." Shawn cursed. He lifted his head from his hands and stared down at his feet. "She's leaving you know? Back to Australia in only a couple of days."

Samey watched him intently. "Yeah." She whispered.

"Of course. Everyone knew." Shawn paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I was going to ask her to the prom. All semester I've tried to muster up the courage. I kept playing through the whole thing in my head, over and over again. Like I was preparing for an oncoming zombie horde. I had lots of chances too. Like the night we were at Max's basement watching B movies. It was just us on that couch, alone for so long. I never wanted to be closer to someone like that night. Or on the school trip to Whistler. But I never said anything to her about it."

He messed his hair up. "I was finally going to do it! Right after class! Maybe two weeks ago. But then Dave told me the news. She was leaving. She never told me. Not a word. Dave knew before I did! How could she do that to me? Did she not think I was important enough to tell? Did she not give a damn? God. It felt awful. I couldn't believe it. I was so angry at her."

"I'm sure she didn't intend for you to be hurt," Samey suggested.

"Probably. It still did though. I couldn't stand to even look at her. By the time I finally calmed down, I'd missed my chance to ask her out."

"Missed your chance? Didn't she go stag tonight?"

"Yeah. She did."

"How could you have missed your chance then?" Samey asked in accusatory tone.

Shawn chuckled to himself. "Rodney beat me to the punch. He asked her to go. She turned him down, not surprising considering I think he asked every girl to the prom."

"He definitely asked Amy out," Samey agreed.

"After it happened, Jasmine came to me, complaining about the boys of this school. How she wanted one fun night after all the bullshit and things. I couldn't have asked her out after that. She confided in me that she wanted her last social night to be without baggage. If I asked her out, I'd be doing just that."

"Then why are you sad you said nothing? Weren't you doing what she wanted?"

"Yeah." Shawn turned his head towards the sky. "It just feels so fucking dissatisfying. When I leave this school, I wanted it to be on my terms with no regrets. I had fun when I wanted. I had the friends I wanted. I do not feel that way now. I should have tried something. I should have said something. I didn't want our goodbye to be like that: empty. Instead I stood there with a dumb grin on my face, nodding along with her words, sending her off with a half wave. God. I'm so pathetic."

Samey remained silent for a moment. She did not know what to say to him. "She was special to you?"

"She was the coolest." Shawn replied.

"In what way?"

"She was just so fun to be around." Shawn spoke with confidence. "It was just so easy to talk to her. She was willing to just go along with any dumb subject you wanted to talk about. She'd genuinely seem interested in what you were talking about, and it never felt forced. She and I could talk endlessly about zombies. I once tried talking to Scarlett about them and I ended up sitting through an hour long lecture from her about how completely impossible it would be scientifically and the much more scientific and plausible apocalypses. Not fun. And kind of scary." Samey let out a sigh, but with an envious smile. "What?" Shawn asked.

"I wish I could leave that kind of a impression on someone."

"You don't think you do?"

"I know so." Samey declared. "Rodney actually asked me out too, but then realized I wasn't Amy. He just turned and walked away. He didn't even apologize. Like I wasn't even a person with emotions."

"But people like you. You're a cheerleader; you're popular Samey." Shawn tried to assure her.

"Not popular enough I guess. Not enough to beat Amy." Samey rolled herself back into her ball, remembering the defeat she just experienced. "I could never beat her. At least you can look back fondly at parts of your experience. Mine is just a complete failure, through and through." A tear fell down her face. "I told them! I told everyone how much I wanted to be Queen. What's the point in having friends when none of them care?"

Shawn watched her for a second. He then tilted his head back. "Why was it always about beating Amy? Why do you want to beat her so badly?"

"Because I wanted to be something! Something that was me, and not her. My whole life, I've felt like I was living in her shadow, rather than my own life. Everything I did was compared to her, by friends, parents, myself. I wanted something that she would need to be compared to me. It's all I could ask for. I felt if I just found something I was good at, something I could build my identity around, I would have this tangible thing I could latch onto. Like you said, I'm popular. I have that. I know I do. So, I thought maybe, maybe I might just be slightly more popular than her. I always talked to everyone, no matter who they were. She never cared for a second about the losers! No offense."

"None taken."

"But I was wrong. Even with all that, everyone chose her instead. Why am I always wrong?" Samey asked rhetorically.

"Do you hate her? Amy?" Shawn asked.

"A little bit, yeah. I mean, I do love her. She is my sister. Like she's not an evil person. She's just as insecure as I am. But she wanted to be her own person despite me and not with me. She needed so much attention for so long, that I just gave it to her without a fight. It's no wonder her ego grew like it did. I was feeding it to her. I just hate that she never cared for me like that. All of my struggles were a distraction to her, that uppity bitch."

"Well," Shawn added, "you have something going for you. You're on the staircase of losers. Amy doesn't have that."

"It's hardly a substitute for prom queen." Samey spoke quietly. "But I'll take it." Samey looked off into the parking lot. Endless rows of cars. The night sky was cloudy, not a star could be seen. "I guess I do have one other thing going for me."

Shawn perked up an eyebrow. "Yeah? And what's that?"

"I'm leaving." Samey admitted.

"Where?"

"Out of state. For college."

"I haven't heard this before." Shawn spoke in surprise.

"It's because I haven't told anyone. You're the first. Not even my parents or sister know. I just got my funding yesterday. In two months going to be 1000 miles away. Away from her. Away from everyone." Samey said.

Shawn brushed his hand through his hair. "Wow, that's crazy. Do you really think it is necessary?"

Samey nodded her head. "I'd have gone further if I could have. You have no idea what it is like. I never thought I was my own person. The only thing I am is not Amy. Take her away and maybe, just maybe, I could be Samey. I'm thinking I might have people call me Sam actually."

"Sam huh?" Shawn repeated. A smile grew on Shawn's face. "It suits you."

"Thanks," Samey spoke. She ran her fingers through her hair. "Still, I wanted something. I wanted to have something to take from here that was not empty, or dissatisfying, or so messed up." She let out a chuckle. "Maybe that was too much to ask for."

"Maybe," Shawn agreed.

They shared a silence, on the steps belong the gymnasium. The sounds of the prom felt like a light hum passing by. The clouds parted slightly, revealing a handful of stars dotting the night sky. Near the horizon the round moon had a slight reddish hue.

"Ahh!" Samey called out in frustration, standing up. "No! Fuck that. I'm going to get it if I have to do it myself."

"What do you mean?"

"Ask me to the prom."

Shawn was slightly taken aback from the suggestion. He turned away from Samey, staring down at his hands. "I'm not sure I want to go back in there," Shawn admitted. "It would be weird, wouldn't it?"

"No. Not back in there. Fuck the people in there," Samey called out, flicking her middle fingers towards the gymnasium doors. "I'm talking about the prom we're having right now. Here. On the staircase of losers."

"What?" Shawn remarked, not understanding her.

Samey took a step down. "We're going to have a prom now, here, just the two us. Got it? Now ask me out, zombie hunter. Say what you were too afraid to say to Jasmine."

Shawn blinked at her. She stood with confidence, towering over the person she was a moment ago. The spark of life clicked, spurring Shawn into action. "Uh," Shawn stuttered. He stood up, quickly running his fingers through his hair. He took a step up, towards Samey, and bowed his head. "Would you like to go to the prom with me, Sam?" he asked, reaching his hand forward, blushing slightly.

Samey giggled at Shawn's discomfort. "I would love to," she agreed, lightly placing her hand on his. "And look," she pointed her hands towards the ground, "we're already here. Best seats in the house."

"But, uh, first, we have to have the vote for prom queen and prom king," Shawn interrupted her, walking down to a platform in the middle of the steps. Samey sat down, watching him with a grin. "We, uh," Shawn struggled to come up with the words off the top of his head, "know why you are all really here. To see two of your peers crowned king and queen of the prom!"

Samey clapped loudly.

"First, we need to conduct the vote for prom queen. There are such great choices," Shawn looked to his left and right on the steps, as if on a stage. "I'm going to have to cast my vote for Samey. She, uh, she wins!" He said awkwardly.

"Yeah!" Samey announced, throwing her hands in the air, laughing a bit at their theatrics. She stood up, turning to face the gym. "Suck it bitches!" She called out, walking slowly down the steps to where Shawn was standing. "And I vote for Shawn as the prom king."

Shawn scratched the back of his head. "Now what?" He asked, watching her approach.

"Silly. The prom king and queen have to share a dance." Samey spoke, reaching her hand towards him.

"Right," Shawn nodded, taking her hand.

The two of them arranged themselves on the platform in the middle of the steps. Samey placed her hands on Shawn's shoulders. Shawn hesitantly put his hands on her sides. They began to sway back and forth. They were both staring at their feet, a little embarrassed, in a slow dance to no music.

Samey moved her body up right against his, placing her chin on his shoulder, holding tightly to his back.

"Samey?" Shawn asked.

"Shh. I want to hold onto this for as long as I can."

_Afterword:_

_Thank you very much for reading. This story was a collaboration between myself and my writing partner Bardic Jester. If you enjoyed this story and haven't already, be sure to check out our story: The Pillars of Destiny, it currently has over 90k words. Or if oneshots are more your thing, check out a couple oneshots written by Bardic Jester on his profile: Never Quite the Woman That She Wanted to Be, All God's Lonely Children, and Wake. A link to his profile can be found in my Favorite Authors._

_We hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review. – Nyhlus and Bardic Jester._


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